India, China likely to sign 20 business deals during PM Modi's visit

Beijing: India and China are likely to sign over 20 business agreements during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit, the Indian envoy said on Wednesday, emphasising that both sides are trying to look for synergies in their respective agendas.

"India and China agreed on a close developmental partnership during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India and Modi's visit will delineate on how to take forward the bilateral economic engagement," India's Ambassador to China, Ashok K Kantha said.

"We expect more than 20 business agreements to be signed in Shanghai during the visit," the Indian envoy told state-run CCTV on the eve of Modi's trip during which the Prime Minister would visit Xi'an, Beijing and Shanghai.

The Indian envoy, however, did not elaborate on the business agreements likely to be signed.

Several others areas ranging from cooperation between provinces, cities, skill development, disaster management, smart cities and outer space will see concrete progress which will take forward the relations in a "fairly comprehensive manner", Kantha said.

On India's participation in China's mega Silk Road projects for which Xi has set up USD 40 billion fund, he said, "Both India and China are attaching great importance to connectivity. We both have respective connectivity agendas. Our approach is to look for synergies in our respective agendas."